Buffer Overflow Attack Lab

01 —

System Architecture · 3D View

02 —

Architecture Diagram

Vulnerable Binary

C / 32-bit

↓

Crafted Input

Payload / Shellcode

↓

Stack Overflow

Return Addr Overwrite

Heap Overflow

Metadata Corruption

Format String

%x · %n Exploit

↓

GDB Analysis

Register · Stack Trace

↓

ASLR Bypass

Countermeasure Test

↓

Root Access

Privilege Escalation

03 —

Screenshots & Output

terminal

$ gdb -q ./vulnerable_program

Reading symbols from ./vulnerable_program...done.

(gdb) run $(python3 -c "print('A'*76 + '\xef\xbe\xad\xde')")

Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.

0xdeadbeef in ?? ()

(gdb) x/20x $esp

0xffffd620: 0x41414141 0x41414141 0xdeadbeef 0x00000000

✓ Return address overwrite confirmed at offset 76

✓ Shell payload injected → root access obtained

$

GDB Session

Live debugging with stack traces

Exploit Success Rates

Stack Smash95%

Heap Overflow88%

Format String82%

ASLR Bypass74%

Canary Defeat70%

Exploit Success Rates

Attack vector effectiveness

Data Output

{
"attack_type": "stack_smashing",
"offset": 76,
"payload": "'A'*76 + ret_addr",
"target": "32-bit Linux ELF",
"mitigations_tested": ["ASLR", "canary"],
"result": "root_shell_obtained"
}

Memory Map

Process memory layout

Project Structure

📁 buffer-overflow-lab/

├─ vulnerable.c Target program

├─ exploit.py Stack smash

├─ heap_exploit.py Heap overflow

├─ format_str.py Format string

├─ gdb_notes.txt Debug log

└─ report.pdf Lab writeup

Lab Structure

Exploit file organization

04 —

What I Built

›

Analyzed buffer overflow vulnerabilities in 32-bit environments, identifying security weaknesses.

›

Manipulated memory locations and return addresses to bypass execution restrictions.

›

Developed and tested exploit code to achieve root access via code injection and privilege escalation.

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Explored stack smashing, heap overflow, and format string attacks to evaluate security risks.

›

Debugged and traced memory allocations using GDB, monitoring registers and stack behavior.

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Conducted post-exploit analysis testing ASLR and stack protection countermeasures.

05 —

Project Insights

✎ Personal Notes & Learnings

Markdown Editor

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What I Explored

Deep-dive into memory exploitation in controlled 32-bit Linux environments.

Attack Vectors Tested

Stack smashing: Overwriting return address to redirect execution
Heap overflow: Corrupting heap metadata for arbitrary writes
Format string: Using %n to write to arbitrary memory locations

Key Insight

ASLR significantly raises the difficulty but does not prevent exploitation when combined with information leaks that reveal base addresses.

EC-Council Connection

This lab reinforced and extended my Ethical Hacking Essentials certification curriculum.

✓ Insights saved locally